Secret Admirations
by niffler23
Summary: Hermione feels left out, and only one person can help her. please review! FWHG... COMPLETED!
1. Left out

Hermione, Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Lavender all went into the Three Broomsticks together to get out of the snow and warm up. Hermione couldn't help feeling left out, now that Harry was dating Ginny and Ron was dating Lavender.

"How 'bout I get us some Butterbeers?" Hermione suggested, standing up.

"Thanks 'Mione! You're the best." Came the reply from everyone.

_I feel so left out… I've got to make an excuse to get out of here…_ Hermione thought to herself, _I know! I'll say I want to check out that "new bookstore", there is no way they'll want to follow me._ She ordered four Butterbeers and went back to the table and handed them out.

"'Mione, you didn't get one for yourself." Said Harry, noticing that she didn't have a bottle in her hand.

"Ya well, I was thinking maybe I could check out that new bookstore down the road" came the reply.

"There's a new bookstore?" asked Ginny "I didn't notice it when we came"

_Think of something… quick! _"Uh… erm…. It's not as popular as the other bookstores. Do you guys want to come with me?"

"But we just came from outside!" whined Ron. "You can go ahead." He waved her off without a second thought.

"You guys are sure?" asked Hermione _please say you're sure._

"We're sure, don't worry… how 'bout we all meet up in an hour at Honeydukes?" suggested Harry. Everyone agreed.

"Ok, well, see you guys in an hour." Said Hermione, and headed out the door. _Phew! Glad to be out of there! Now where to go…_


	2. What to do?

"What do you mean you're meeting Alicia?" groaned Fred as he and his twin walked down the streets of Hogsmeade. "I thought it was just going to be the two of us today. You could of at least asked her to bring a friend so I wouldn't feel left out!"

"Sorry bro, I thought you wouldn't mind" Said George.

"Where are you meeting her anyway?" asked Fred, worried that he already knew the answer.

"Oh… to that little tea shop" George blushed, "That Madam Puddi-something-or-rather."

_There are nothing BUT couples in there. I'm gonna feel like a third wheel. _Fred thought to himself.

They arrived at the tea shop, where Alicia was waiting for George. All three of them sat down near the window and ordered coffees. Fred looked around and found that he was right, there were nothing BUT couples all around them.

Fred sighed. _I've got to get out of this place… but how? I don't want to leave without being rude._ He looked out the window and saw Hermione walk by.

_Wait… why is Hermione all alone? Wasn't she with her friends a while ago? _Fred pondered at this. _I REALLY should get out of here… think of an excuse… come on… think… think!_

"Fred…?" he heard someone say. It was Alicia. "Are you ok?" George was looking at him too, with a kind of concerned look on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine" said Fred. "Listen, would it be…er… ok if I leave you guys here? I just… uh… wanna walk on my own for a while." _Is that the best I can do?_

"Oh… you sure?" asked Alicia, "I mean, it's alright if you stay with us, but if you insist-"

"Yeah, I'm sure" Fred said quickly, and grabbed his coat and ran out the door. "Next time I should work on my excuses more. But anyway, now that I'm on my own… what do I do?"


	3. Excuses

Hermione was walking down the road deep in her own thoughts. _I know I should be happy for Ron and Harry, but they seem so different now that they have girlfriends. I mean, it's already affecting our friendship…_ But she snapped back to reality when she heard someone calling her.

"Hermione! Hermione!"

"Wha-?" she looked behind her and saw Fred bounding up to her.

"Hi Fred… Why aren't you with George?" she asked.

"Well…" said Fred, catching his breath. "We were supposed to spend the day together, but apparently, he had other plans with Alicia and didn't tell me. And it kinda put me in an uncomfortable situation, so I made up an excuse to leave them alone for a while…" "How'd you know I was Fred anyway?" he added with a quizzical look on his face.

"Oh… I didn't … I sort of guessed" said Hermione, looking a bit embarrassed.

Fred laughed. "Nice guess though." They both started laughing, and started to walk down the road going wherever their feet would take them.

"What was your excuse anyway?" asked Hermione after they stopped laughing.

"Oh… I said I wanted to walk on my own for a bit." Fred replied. Hermione burst out laughing again.

"What's so funny?" Said Fred, looking a bit shocked.

"It's just that you're, well… you!" Hermione answered and continued to laugh.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Asked Fred, looking confused. "Care to elaborate?"

"Well, your excuse must have been hard to believe" continued Hermione. "Considering you're a Weasley _twin _and everything. I mean, it's not very likely to see one of you without the other; it's like, against all the laws of nature or something. Get it?" She explained, and continued to laugh.

"Oh… I get it now" said Fred, and started laughing also. "No wonder Alicia looked so confused when I made up that lame excuse." There was a thoughtful pause, and after a while, Fred decided to re-open the topic.

"So… how come you're all alone?" Fred asked Hermione.

"Oh… well… It's kinda like your situation actually. I felt left out since I was the only one in the group without a 'pair', so I made an excuse that I wanted to see a new bookstore, because I knew they wouldn't want to come with me."

"Oh… ok" said Fred. "Hey, do you want a bite to eat? I'm starving… my treat."

"Ok sure!" replied Hermione, "I'm kinda getting cold anyway."

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**Please review! I'm not updating till I get enough reviews…**


	4. I told you so

Fred led Hermione up the street a bit more until they reached a small café.

"I've never noticed this place before." said Hermione. "Is this place new?"

"It opened a few months ago" replied Fred, "so… yeah, it's still pretty new" he opened the door to let Hermione in. "Ladies first" he said, bowing sarcastically.

"Wow… Fred Weasley is a gentleman" said Hermione, putting her hand over mouth in mock surprise. Fred grinned, and they both went inside.

They took off their coats and sat at a nearby table and ordered some food and some butterbeers and started eating.

"This food is actually pretty good" said Fred.

"I know" replied Hermione, "almost as good as the food they serve at Hogwarts. I wonder why not very many people eat here." Fred looked around, she was right, there were only a few people eating there.

"Many people have probably not heard of this place yet" he replied "considering this place is still new." and continued to eat. After they finished eating, Fred paid the bill and they both went back outside.

"So…" said Fred, in hopes of striking up another conversation "what do you want to do now?" Hermione checked her watch.

"Oh… I nearly forgot!" exclaimed Hermione "I was supposed to meet the others at Honeydukes five minutes ago! I can't believe I forgot… Oh what are they gonna think? What if they think that I ditched them? Oh what am I going to do?" she went on like this for a while until Fred told her to calm down.

"Hermione don't bust a blood vessel" said Fred, half-laughing. "Calm down, you know perfectly well what all of them are like. I bet once we get to Honeydukes they won't be there yet, they would have lost track of time as well." Hermione obviously considered what Fred had just said.

"You're probably right" she said.

"Of course I am" said Fred smirking. Hermione smiled as she shook her head. And they both started making their way to Honeydukes.

Hermione was thinking to herself. _I never thought Fred could be so sweet. The whole, opening the door for me and paying for my meal thing. So far, he's behaved in a way I never thought was EVER possible…_ she smiled in spite of herself.

"What's so funny?" asked Fred, who had apparently seen her smile. "Care to fill me in on the joke?"

"Oh… it's nothing" replied Hermione still smiling.

"Ok then" said Fred and started thinking to himself. _ I never thought Hermione could be so… well… FUN! I always thought she could never take a joke, but I guess I was wrong. Of course, there's a lot of stuff I didn't know about her._

They reached Honeydukes a few minutes later and Hermione noticed that there wasn't a trace of her friends.

"I guess you were right Fred" she said. "Not a sign of them in here." Fred smiled, trying very hard not to say 'I told you so', but he couldn't resist and said it anyway.

"Told you so" he said, sounding like a five-year-old. They both laughed. A few minutes later, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Lavender came through the entrance of the store.

"Sorry Hermione" said Ginny, "lost track of time." Fred whispered another 'I told you so' to Hermione.

"Its ok" replied Hermione, trying hard not to laugh at what Fred just said to her.

"Hey Fred!" said Ron "Where is George?"

"Well…" started Fred. "I don't really know…I should go and look for him now… see you guys back at the castle" and headed towards the door with one final backward glance and a wave at all of them.

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**dolface546, amrawo, HiddenSecret, and Crazy Writer R:**

**Thanks for the reviews! **


	5. What's the big deal?

As they watched Fred leave the store, Ron turned to Hermione, "Why were you here with Fred?" he asked with an accusing glare.

"I just ran into him that's all" Hermione replied, taken aback. "I don't understand what the big deal is. If I recall correctly _you_ were the one that was eager to get rid of me back at the Three Broomsticks."

Harry, who was apparently listening in on their conversation, sided with Hermione. "You can't deny it Ron, she is right after all."

"I'm sorry 'Mione" said Ron "I guess I was just being…stupid. But it was just kind of weird seeing Fred without George, I mean, that's never happened before."

"It's ok Ron" said Hermione, and gave him a hug.

"So how was the bookstore Hermione?" asked Lavender.

Hermione had obviously forgotten how she had escaped them in the first place. "Oh! It was great! Lots of…uh… new and interesting books" she finished lamely.

Lavender frowned. "How come you didn't buy any books?"

_Darn! She has a point… think of something… come on! You shouldn't have to be thinking this hard!_ "Well… the books were a bit expensive so I didn't bother."

"Ok then" said Lavender, still looking a bit unconvinced.

"How about we buy some candy" suggested Ginny "then we can go back to the castle."

After twenty minutes of examining shelves upon shelves of candy, they all paid for their candy and headed back to Hogwarts.

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**Sorry if this chapter is so short... More coming, I promise!**


	6. Snowball fight

Once Fred was out the door, he decided to try and find George. He obviously didn't have to search for him long; he knew exactly where his twin was. After a few minutes, he reached Zonko's Joke Shop and found George buying a few Dungbombs.

"Oi Fred! Over here!" said George, waving Fred over. "I was just about to go and look for you."

"Well I saved you the trouble didn't I?" replied Fred "Stocking up on more Dungbombs are we?" he said, eyeing the bag in George's hand.

"Right you are, dear brother!" said George "So what have you been up to all by your lonesome?" he asked as they left the store and headed towards Hogwarts.

"Actually, I ran into Hermione" replied Fred "so I guess I wasn't all by my lonesome."

George looked confused. "Why wasn't she with ickle Ronnikins and the others?" Fred shrugged. For some reason, he didn't want to tell George that Hermione was in the same situation as he, Fred, was in.

"So where did you two go?" asked George.

"Around" said Fred "had a bite to eat, that's all." He bent down and threw a snowball at George's head.

"Hey! No fair!" laughed George and started throwing snowballs at Fred. They went on like this for a while until they realized that there were a lot of snowballs being thrown, snowballs _they_ haven't been throwing. The twins looked around and saw Harry, Ginny, Ron, Lavender, and Hermione; apparently, they had been happily pelting snowballs at the twins as well.

"Hey! It's-" Said Fred and started to smile.

"Five against two! That's-" continued George.

"Not fair!" they finished together. The others started to laugh. George looked at Fred, they both grinned their identical evil grins. The others had stopped laughing with half-confused, half-scared looks on their faces; they knew those grins all too well.

"You know what this means Fred?" asked George.

"Indeed I do George." Replied Fred. They both looked at the others.

"What _does_ it mean?" asked Ron rather stupidly. The grins on the twins' face broadened.

"It means…" started Fred.

"REVENGE!" George finished triumphantly. And the others started to run, but the twins caught up with them and started throwing snowballs at all of them. It was all out war, but Fred and George were too good, not only did they have superb aim, but they also managed to dodge everything that was thrown at them. The snowball fight only ended when Harry, Ron, Ginny, Lavender, and Hermione finally admitted defeat, that and, the fact that they were all soaking wet and it was starting to get dark. They all started making their way up to the castle.

"Well, I've learned my lesson" sighed Harry.

"So have I" said Hermione, Ginny, and Lavender at the same time.

"Really?" said Ron "I haven't learned a thing!" at that moment, Fred and George got hold of Ron and crammed as much snow into his ears.

"AHHHH! BRAIN FREEZE!" screamed Ron. Everyone else laughed.

"The lesson was…" began Fred.

"Not to mess with us." continued George.

"Especially, since you're no good at defending yourself." finished Fred.

They all made their way to the Great Hall for dinner. After having second helpings of everything, they all made their way up to the Gryffindor common room and sat in front of the fire to warm up.

"Exploding Snap anyone?" said Fred after they were all warm and dry.

"Sure!" replied Ron. Lavender declined and went up to bed.

"Just one game though" said Hermione.

"Ok" said Fred. "Let's divide into teams. George, Hermione and I will be one team, and Harry, Ron and Ginny will be another team."

So they played one game of Exploding Snap before they were told to go to bed.

"Well that was fun" said George.

They all said their 'Good nights' and went off into their own dormitories.

"Good night Hermione." said Fred.

"Good night Fred, and thanks by the way for a great afternoon." Said Hermione.

"My pleasure." Replied Fred. They both smiled as they went into their separate dormitories. Little did both of them know that they were both thinking of the afternoon they had spent together.

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**Thanks to everyone who reviewed my last chapter!  
**


	7. Dreams and laughter

Hermione went up to her dormitory, changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed. She couldn't help but lay back and let the events of the afternoon wash over her. She couldn't help but think how Fred had been so sweet and polite to her. She gave a sigh of content and drifted off to sleep.

_She was walking down the streets of Hogsmead with Fred. They were both laughing at a joke that Fred just said. As they walked further down the street, Fred reached out his hand at took hold of hers._

"_I've been waiting to hold your hand in mine for so long" he whispered softly into her ear. "I just was never brave enough to do it."_

_Hermione blushed. "I never thought you felt this way. But I'm glad you do, because I feel the same way about you."_

_Fred smiled at her. He led her to a deserted corner of the street and faced her. "Hermione, I've liked you for the longest time." _

"_Me too, Fred" replied Hermione "But I never thought you would ever like me, considering I'm not one of prettiest girls in school."_

"_That's because you're not pretty… you're beautiful" said Fred. "Everything about you is perfect." He leaned forward and brought his lips to hers…._

Hermione woke up with a smile on her face. She had had the most perfect dream in her entire life.

"Wait… did I just dream about Fred? Oh well, at least it was just a dream." she said to herself. She got up and got dressed and went down to breakfast.

-- --

Fred woke up feeling very happy. _Why am I so happy today?_ He asked himself. He lay on his back trying to remember the details of his dream last night.

"All I remember was…" he spoke to himself softly, as to not wake up his sleeping dorm mates. " Hermione was in it, and we were back at Hogsmead and I held her hand and I told her she was beautiful and then I…." He sat bolt upright as if an electrical charge was sent through him. "And then I kissed her!" he yelled in spite of himself.

"Shhhh! Some of us are trying to sleep!" said George angrily. Lee grunted in approval.

Fred apologized and got dressed and went down to breakfast. As he made his way to the Gryffindor table and spotted Hermione sitting with Harry, Ron and Ginny (Lavender was sitting with Parvati). His heart did a back flip. _Get a hold of yourself Fred! It was only a dream! Not like it meant anything, you're just being stupid. Go on, just sit down and have some breakfast. _Fred heaved a great sigh and headed to where Harry and the others were sitting.

"Morning all!" Fred called to the others in his usual cheery voice.

"Morning Fred" said Harry, as Fred took up the empty seat beside him.

"Where's George?" Asked Ron as they all loaded food onto their plates and started eating.

"Still sleeping" Fred answered. He couldn't help but glance at Hermione, who smiled and looked down at her own plate.

Hermione thought to herself. _What's the matter with you? It was only a dream… get real! As if he really feels that way about me._

"Hermione?" Ginny was waving her hand in front of Hermione's face "Are you ok?"

Hermione blinked. "Huh what? Oh Ginny… yeah, I'm fine. Just zoned out for a bit. Sorry." Ginny smiled.

"So, it's Sunday today. What do you guys want to do?" Ron asked, starting his second helping of eggs and sausages.

"I don't know." Said Harry. Just then, George arrived at the table and sat down beside Fred.

"Morning everyone"

"Morning George" everyone greeted. "Breakfast! Excellent!" said George and piled his plate with food and started eating. "By the way Fred, what were you yelling about this morning?"

"Nothing. Just something I remembered about a dream I had." Replied Fred, trying to sound casual.

"What was your dream about, Fred?" asked Ron, starting his third helping of sausages.

"About you dancing a jig wearing a sundress, trust me, you look better as a girl." Fred answered sarcastically. Everyone snorted into their pumpkin juice, but soon recovered and burst out laughing, including Ron.

"Nice one brother!" laughed George.

"Hey Ginny!" chocked Harry and grabbed Ron "It's the older sister you've always wanted!" Everyone laughed harder.

"Yeah Ginny!" laughed Hermione "You can do his hair now."

"And I can fix his make-up!" said Ginny with tears of laughter streaming down her eyes.

"But first we have to think of a new name for him." Interjected Fred, clutching his sides. At this, everyone started making suggestions.

"We can…ha ha… call him Ronalyn" Suggested Harry. Everyone agreed and laughed even harder. Fred stood up.

"Ok… I hereby christen thee…" he snorted, and conjured a pink bow with his wand and placed it on Ron's head "Ronalyn!" everyone laughed again and applauded sarcastically. They stopped a few minutes later when Professor McGonagall told them to be quiet or leave the table.

"Well, that was fun" said Ginny; everyone was wiping tears from their eyes.

"Shall we all go back to the common room?" said George, still having difficulty breathing.

"Sure." Said Harry, whose face was red from laughing so hard. And they all got up and made their way to the common room.

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**Hope you liked it!**


	8. Dissapointment then fun

When they reached the common room, Fred took out a deck of cards. "Another rousing game of Exploding Snap then?" he turned to everyone.

"Sure." Said Ginny "Same teams as last night?"

"Hold it!" interrupted Hermione "_Some_ of us have to finish some of our homework" indicating Ron and Harry. Everyone groaned.

"C'mon Hermione, it's the holidays!" whined Ginny.

"It's not the holidays yet Ginny, so until that time…" Hermione rounded on Ron and Harry.

Ron and Harry grinned. "Don't worry Hermione" said Ron "We finished our homework this morning before going down to breakfast."

"It's true Hermione" said Harry when she looked at him.

"Well that settles it then" interjected Fred "so, are we still on for Exploding Snap?"

"Of course we are!" replied George "same teams as last night" he added, answering Ginny's question.

"I don't feel like playing anymore" said Hermione with a trace of bitterness in her voice. She was obviously a bit embarrassed about the whole Harry-Ron-actually-doing-their-homework thing.

"Aww… come on Hermione!" said Harry "if you don't join, the teams won't be equal."

"Yeah Hermione, one of us might have to sit out." added Ron "are you sure you don't want to join?"

"Yes Ron, I'm sure" said Hermione with a tone of finality in her voice. "Besides, I want to catch up on my reading." Everyone looked disappointed as she crossed the room and sat down and started reading a book.

"Well, I guess someone has to sit out then." Said George quietly.

"I'll do it" said Fred without a hint of regret in his voice. Everyone looked confused.

"Do what?" asked Ron.

"Sit out, you prat!" said Fred, looking annoyed.

"No!"

"What do you mean 'no'?"

"I mean, no! You can't-"

"Ok….this discussion is going nowhere" interrupted George. "Ron, shove off. Fred can do whatever he wants, and if you can't deal with that, too bad." He leaned a bit closer to Fred so no one else could hear him "Are you sure you want to sit out mate? I mean, you were the one who suggested that we play in the first place."

"Yeah, I'm sure." Replied Fred, and handed George the deck of cards. "So…" he raised his voice so that the others could hear him, "new teams then. I'll just watch you guys from over here." He sat down beside Hermione.

"Ok" Fred heard George saying "new teams, me and Ginny against Ron and Harry." Everyone agreed, and started playing.

"You know, you didn't have to do that." Hermione told Fred, looking up from her book. "You could have played."

"It would have been an unfair advantage anyway." Replied Fred. Hermione smiled. "What are you reading?" he asked, looking at the book that Hermione had put down.

"_Silver on the Tree_… it was a birthday present from my parents." She answered.

"Ahhh… I see" said Fred, he had nothing else but that to say, but he wanted to keep talking to Hermione. She started to laugh. Fred raised his eyebrows, "What's so funny?"

Hermione pointed at Ron and Fred started laughing as well. Apparently, Ron was still wearing the pink bow that Fred had conjured up when Ron was christened 'Ronalyn' during breakfast, but nobody gave an effort to remind him that he was still wearing it.

"I don't think he knows he still has it on." Said Hermione, with a great effort to stifle her giggles, but to no avail. "Should we point it out to him?"

"Nah… he'll remember soon enough." laughed Fred "If you ask me, I don't think he's forgotten that he has it on… if you know what I mean." he snorted, "Besides, I think he took it as a compliment when I said that he looked better as a girl." They burst out laughing.

"What are you two laughing at?" asked George. He, Ginny, Harry, and Ron had stopped playing and were now looking at them. None of the two could suppress their laughter long enough to explain what exactly they were laughing at. Fred caught George's eye and understood completely; it was a twin thing. George looked at Ron and started laughing.

"What are _you_ laughing about?" asked Ron looking scandalized as George started to hold on to Harry for support.

"It's n-not exactly a se-secret" George managed to say before he collapsed and started rolling on the floor clutching his stomach.

Ron faced Harry and Ginny. "Do any of you know what's going on?" Little did Ron know, Fred was pointing to Ron's head. But Harry and Ginny noticed what Fred was pointing at and Harry tried as hard as he could to keep his face straight while Ginny collapsed on the floor in a fit of giggles. Ron stared at Harry. "Well? What's going on?"

"George is right" said Harry, now starting to laugh "It's not really a secret."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron demanded looking at everyone who were still laughing.

Fred finally regained his composure. "Let's put it this way, now we know that Ginny has the older sister she's always wanted. Of course, I don't think pink is really your color." With that said, Fred sank back onto the couch and began clutching his sides as a new wave of laughter came. Ron finally realized what Fred was talking about and pulled the bow out of his hair. Everyone realized that the joke was over and fell silent, waiting for Ron's reaction.

"I've had this thing in my hair the entire time?" he asked them looking bewildered. Everyone nodded. Ron smiled "Blimey! Good thing no one else saw me."

"You're not mad at us?" Hermione asked cautiously "For not telling you, I mean?"

"No, of course not." chuckled Ron "it's a stupid thing to get worked up over." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Spoken like our true brother." said Fred.

"Personally, I thought you were gonna go ballistic on us." said George.

"We're sorry we laughed at you though." Ginny said.

"Yeah, really sorry." agreed Harry. They were all reassured that Ron wasn't upset in the slightest.

"Truth be told, if this had happened to anyone else I wouldn't tell them either." joked Ron. "So… how 'bout we go down to lunch? I'm starving."

They all went down to lunch and after they had finished eating, they went out onto the grounds and had a snowball fight for the rest of the afternoon until it started to get dark. They went back into the Great Hall for dinner (Lavender was with them) and went back to the common room to relax in front of the fire.

"Today was fun." said Ginny as she stretched in front of the fire.

"Almost as fun as yesterday." said George.

"Plus the holidays are coming up." added Fred.

"Are you coming to The Burrow for the holidays, Hermione?" asked Harry.

Hermione shrugged. "I'm not sure."

"Come on Hermione," said Ron "Harry's coming."

"Please Hermione, it won't be much fun without you." begged Ginny.

"Ok… I'll ask my parents tomorrow." replied Hermione. A few hours later, everyone got up and said their goodnights.


	9. From Hogwarts to the Burrow

The next morning at breakfast, the usual owl post came to deliver mail. A barn owl landed in front of Hermione's plate with a letter clasped in its beak. Hermione took the letter and began to read it:

_Dear Hermione, _

_Of course you can stay with your friends for the holidays. We were planning to go to Scotland to visit your Uncle Jimmy. And considering how he can be when he has family over, we thought it best that we avoid any more "incidents". We hope you enjoy the holidays with your friends._

_Love from,_

_Mom and Dad_

"Who's it from?" asked Harry, leaning over to read the letter.

"My parents" said Hermione handing the letter over to him so he could read it "they said it was ok that I spend the holidays at the Burrow. They were planning on visiting my uncle in Scotland anyway, so they thought it best I don't come. Not like I'm complaining or anything." She quickly scribbled a reply on the back.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_Thank you so much! I hope you have fun in Scotland._

_Love from,_

_Hermione_

"What do they mean by 'incidents'?" asked Harry after Hermione finished writing.

"Oh… it's just every time we visit my uncle, he always tries to get me drunk, no matter how many times I try to explain to him that I'm not of legal drinking age yet."

"That's awesome." remarked Fred, who was listening in on their conversation.

"Yeah, I wish we had an uncle like that!" exclaimed George.

"I don't think Mrs. Weasley would approve of him." said Hermione sternly.

"So you're coming over?" asked Ginny. Hermione nodded. "Great! I'll owl Mom and say you're coming."

"Even if you don't owl Mom, she'd be delighted to have Hermione over." said Ron.

"I know, but I'll owl her anyway." replied Ginny. They continued eating their breakfast in silence, then got they all got up from the table. The rest of the day was uneventful.

The next day, they arrived at the Burrow and were greeted by Mrs. Weasley. "Harry! Hermione! So nice of you to be staying over!" She engulfed the two of them in a bone-crushing bear hug.

"Thanks for letting us stay over, Mrs. Weasley." gasped Hermione.

"Yeah, thanks." said Harry. Mrs. Weasley let them go and smiled "Don't mention it, the two of you are practically family. Now, come in before you all catch your deaths of cold." They all entered the house, relieved to be out of the cold.

"Come on Hermione, lets put our things in my room." said Ginny. They climbed the stairs and went into Ginny's room; there was already an extra bed in there for Hermione. They unpacked all their things and freshened up. "So, what do you want to do now?" asked Ginny.

"I was thinking of catching up on my reading." Hermione answered as she started opening up one of her many books. Ginny groaned.

"Anything else you want to do besides read?" Ginny asked hopefully. Hermione shrugged. "Fine" sighed Ginny "is it ok if I go and be with Harry for a bit?" Hermione nodded, and Ginny left the room. After a ten minutes though, Hermione got distracted from her reading, which never happens. Her thoughts were distracting her, thoughts for a certain Weasley.

"I guess I'll read later." sighed Hermione and put her book away, she started singing to herself.

_I will be there  
Always waiting  
Waiting for you  
To let me inside  
Where your fire burns  
In the city of angels  
Just like a river rushing straight into the sea  
I'm the one thing meant for you and you for me…_

"Really now? I never thought you cared, Hermione." someone said behind her. She turned around. Fred was standing in the doorway with a grin on his face.

"Have you been there the whole time?" asked Hermione starting to blush.

Fred nodded. "Never thought you felt that way." He was still grinning.

"What are you talking about?" asked Hermione looking confused.

"That whole _I'm the one thing meant for you and you for me_ thing." Answered Fred as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"It was only a line of a song." Said Hermione, trying to make it sound as if it didn't bother here, but it did. "Why were you standing in the doorway anyway, George?"

"Fred"

"What?"

"I'm Fred, not George."

"Oh…right."

"And to answer your question, lunch is ready and you should come down before Ron eats everything." He turned his back on her, but he took one backward glance at Hermione, "By the way, you sing well." And hurried downstairs. Hermione stared at the spot where Fred was standing a few seconds ago. _What was that all about? And what was with that whole 'I never thought you felt that way' thing? He sounded really serious when he said that too, could he maybe like me? Wait! This is Fred; he doesn't like me that way! Get a hold of yourself! As if he's ever serious about anything other than pranks! Might as well stop dwelling on this, it doesn't mean anything!_ She sighed and went downstairs for lunch.

-- --

Fred's POV

_What the heck was that? You give her a compliment and then run away! You could have at least waited for a reaction before bolting. Stupid, stupid Fred! Why did you have to interrupt her singing… it was so good. And that whole 'never thought you felt that way' thing was so stupid, as if she was singing about you! She probably thinks you're a complete idiot! I am a complete idiot! Try to forget what happened. Just have some lunch._ Fred sighed and sat down beside George.

-- --

"Something bothering you, dear brother?" asked George.

"No, nothing." replied Fred with his cheery tone of voice. "Just hungry, that's all." He took a sandwich from the plate in front of him and started eating. Ginny, Harry and Ron came into the kitchen and sat down.

"Where's mom?" said Ron, taking a sandwich.

"Out shopping." replied George "she'll be back by dinner." Just then, Hermione came down from upstairs. "Are all the sandwiches the same?" she asked as she sat down beside Fred.

"Yes" answered Ron as he started on his second sandwich "at least it's not corned beef."

-- --

Fred's POV

_She's sitting beside me. I guess she doesn't think I'm a complete idiot after all. Ooooh she's so pretty up close… FRED! What are you thinking? This is Hermione! She's the Gryffindor bookworm and you are a prankster, she won't see past that! But what about that afternoon we spent in Hogsmead? What are you talking about? That wasn't a date! Fred…Fred… what the…?_

-- --

"Fred!"

"Earth to Fred!" someone was poking him, something was waving in front of his face.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Dunno"

"It's like he lost his brain."

"I'll handle this…FRED!" someone yelled in his ear, he was brought out of his thoughts. It was George who yelled, Hermione was the one poking him, and the thing waving in front of his face was Harry's hand.

"Huh? What? What's going on?" stammered Fred. Ginny raised her eyebrows "That's what we want to know."

"Just zoned out, that's all." explained Fred. It was sort of true, it was better than saying that he was having an internal conflict concerning how he feels or doesn't feel about Hermione.

"You never zone out that long." said Ron.

"I had a lot on my mind. Lot's to think of." shrugged Fred.

"But… you never think." said Ron.

"Shut up, Ron! He thinks more than you do!" retorted George, he and Fred were now standing up and glaring at Ron.

"Enough!" shouted Harry, Hermione, and Ginny. They had to stop this before it got out of hand.

"Stop it! We have guests! Just sit down and finish your sandwiches." said Ginny to her brothers. This seemed to stop them in their tracks and they all sat down except for Fred.

"I'm done eating." He mumbled "I'll be in my room." He stormed off.

"I'm done too." Said George and followed Fred upstairs.

xxxxxxx

**Booo yaaa! what did you guys think?**


	10. Power of persuasion

The silence was broken by Ginny. "What the heck was that all about?" she asked furiously as she rounded on Ron.

"What?"

"What'd you have to attack him for?"

"I didn't attack him!"

"Instant replay Ron,_ 'but… you never think'_ he didn't even do anything to you!"

"Why are you defending him?"

"Because he didn't do anything to deserve that!"

"Well?" they both rounded on Harry and Hermione who were silent the whole time because they thought this "family matter" didn't entirely concern them. They had absolutely no idea what to say. Finally, Harry spoke up.

"I'm not taking sides or anything." He started very cautiously as to not upset anyone further "but Ginny's right, Ron. You didn't have to say that about Fred." Ron glared at Harry, then at Hermione.

"I'm not choosing sides either," she said slowly "but Ron, that was wrong of you to say something like that to your own brother." Ron was mouthing soundlessly, and then stood up. "Fine!" and stormed off to his room.

"Don't worry" said Ginny calmly to Harry and Hermione as they heard the door to Ron's room slam, "it's not your fault that he's mad, and he knows what he did was wrong. He's just too proud to admit it. So don't feel guilty."

"How long do you think he'll stay mad at us?" asked Harry.

"I don't know… until he realizes that he's wrong." Answered Ginny though there was a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"Either way, we should talk to him." Said Hermione.

"Yeah we should, just not right now. Give it time." Said Ginny as she started clearing the table. The holidays are going to be a bit complicated.

-- --

"Fred, wait up!" said George as he ran up the stairs to reach his twin "Can we talk?" Fred heaved a sigh and nodded. They both entered their room and closed the door. There was a short silence before George spoke again, "Look, I know what Ron said was, well…"

"Stupid." Fred finished for him.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Said George carefully. He couldn't think of anything else to say, so there was an uncomfortable silence between them. He wanted to ask Fred what he was thinking about when he zoned out a while ago, but he didn't know if now was the right time. As if Fred could read his mind, he answered "No George, now is not the right time."

"I understand." Nodded George "wait, how did you-?"

"It's that great psychic connection we have as twins." Replied Fred, now starting to cheer up a bit. They could hear Ginny and Ron shouting downstairs in the kitchen. A few seconds later, they heard Ron storming up the stairs to his room and slamming the door. "Do you think it's safe to go back downstairs?" said George "unless you don't want to." He added quickly.

"Hmmm… yeah, I think I want to. Besides, all of us could do with a bit of cheering up, a bit of Quidditch should do it." They headed back downstairs to find them clearing the table.

-- --

"You ok, Fred?" Ginny asked timidly as the twins entered the kitchen.

"I've been better." replied Fred "I should be asking you the same thing, I heard you and Ron having a row."

"He deserved it." Said Ginny with smugness in her voice. Fred smiled.

"Awww… Ginny. And here I was thinking you didn't care so much." He said with an exaggerated sniff and went over to give her an over-enthusiastic hug.

"Gerrofff me, Fred!" came Ginny's muffled voice.

"Group hug!" yelled George and took hold of Harry and Hermione and joined with Fred and Ginny.

"Ahh… a cornucopia of love." Said Fred after they all broke apart. "I'm touched." He wiped an imaginary tear from his eye.

"So, you're sure you're ok?" said Ginny.

"Well, I feel better than I did a while ago." Replied Fred.

"Just don't let what Ron said get to you." Said George, patting Fred on the back. "He's a prat."

"I won't." said Fred "He just can't take it that I'm brillianter than him." Hermione raised her eyebrows, she corrected Fred's sentence.

"'_Brillianter'_ is not a word, Fred." She said.

"Most smartest, then." He replied with a grin; he was doing this on purpose. "What's it matter, I'm a prankster, not in englist."

"_Linguist_, Fred."

"Huh?"

"It should be _'linguist'_ not _'englist'_"

"Oh… well… see, point proven." Everyone laughed, including Hermione.

"Quidditch anyone?" said George. "Just to lighten up our spirits, it's the holidays for goodness sake!"

"Ooooh… Yes!" squealed Ginny.

"I'll get my broom from upstairs." Said Harry and ran up the stairs but stopped half way for he had just realized something.

"What's wrong?" said George.

"It's just, Ron and I share a room." Harry said slowly "And I think he's still mad at us."

"I'll come with you." Suggested Fred "you know, just in case." He said with a wink and went with Harry up the stairs. "We'll meet you in the clearing." Fred called down the stairs to the other three. Hermione, Ginny, and George reached the clearing in silence, absorbed in their own thoughts and waited for Harry and Fred.

-- --

Fred and Harry went up the stairs and walked toward Ron and Harry's room. Harry knocked on the door, there was no reply, but he entered anyway. Ron was sitting on the window sill looking outside, his back to the door. Fred waited by the door, Harry went to retrieve his Firebolt and inched toward the door, but Ron spoke. "What are you doing?" he asked without facing him.

"Just came to get my Firebolt." Harry explained "We're playing Quidditch, wanna join?"

"No." he answered flatly, he turned around to face Harry and saw Fred in the doorway. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I live here." Fred answered coldly "In case you haven't noticed." Ron's eyes narrowed. Harry, sensing danger hastily took Fred by the arm. "Let's go, I don't want you guys to have another row."

-- --

Fred and Harry arrived at the clearing a few minutes later. Fred went to get his broom from the nearby shed; Ginny and George already got theirs.

"Ready? Excellent!" said George excitedly "Let's divide into teams." They divided into pairs, Harry and Ginny, Fred and George.

"Ok, let's go." Said Ginny.

"Wait a minute!" said Fred suddenly "What about Hermione?" Everyone looked at her.

"It's ok." Said Hermione, she hated flying "It wouldn't be equal, besides, I don't have a broom."

"You can be on our team." Said Fred quickly, a little too quickly. Good thing no one noticed this.

"Won't it be an unfair advantage?" she said, sounding desperate to get out of joining. Ginny snorted.

"No offence Hermione, but there wont be a difference in advantages."

"Exactly!" said Hermione, secretly thanking Ginny for pointing this fact out. "So I guess I'll just watch you guys pl-."

"So that means there won't be an unfair advantage." Fred interrupted. "Come on Hermione, we can share a broom, and you don't have to do anything."

"I don't know, I don't really like flying."

"You've never even tried it." Said Harry. This was true, their first flying lesson during their first year was called off due to the fact that Neville fell off his broom and broke his wrist and had to be sent to the hospital wing.

"Please Hermione" said Fred "how about we don't fly too high, deal?" Hermione still looked uncertain. _You're losing her! Use your power of persuasion… puppy dog eyes! No one can resist the puppy dog eyes!_

-- --

Hermione's POV

_Awww… look at his eyes! He's so cute! I think I'm melting. Just say yes and get it over with! No! Yes! NO! Come on, he even said we wont fly too high! Just say yes! I'm not sure… You'll be sharing a broom that's like, the closest you'll ever be to him, come on, you know you want to! Fine I'll do it! YES, you won't regret this! Unless I fall off the broom! You won't, besides, you already said yes. Now stop arguing and answer Fred!_

"Ok, fine. I'll join."

-- --

"You will?" Said Fred with a bewildered look on his face. Hermione nodded and mounted the broom. _Score! Someone pinch me, I must be dreaming. Ouch! Ok guess not. Shut up and get on your broom! Oh, yeah ok. _Fred mounted the broom, so he was right behind Hermione.

"Don't forget our deal." Reminded Hermione with fear in her voice.

"I won't. You're safe with me, I promise." Fred reassured her. They rose into the air at a reasonable height, but Fred could feel Hermione trembling. "Don't worry, it's ok." He reassured her.

"Just, don't let me fall." Was all Hermione could say. After a few minutes in the air though, Hermione started getting used to accelerating, swerving, and turning, she wasn't bothered by how high up she was anymore. But she would flinch every time the quaffle headed towards her and Fred, and she realized that she was very scared of diving. Fred noticed all of these things too. A few hours later, they all touched down; Fred's team won by 20 points.

"Not a bad game, eh?" said George as he, Fred, and Ginny all put their brooms back in the shed and made their way back to the house with Harry and Hermione.

"Even Hermione is warming up to Quidditch, aren't you Hermione?" teased Fred. Hermione blushed.

"Ok, I have to admit, Quidditch is kind of fun."

"But you did flinch every time the quaffle came your way." Pointed Ginny "but that's understandable." They heard two distant _pops._

"I guess that means mom and dad are home." Said Fred "must be almost dinner time." They reached the house and went into the kitchen where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were starting on dinner.

"Hi Mr. Weasley." Harry and Hermione greeted.

"Hullo Harry, Hermione." Nodded Mr. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley looked at all of them. "What have you all been doing? You're soaking wet!"

"Playing Quidditch, mom." Replied George.

"Well, get out of those clothes and change into something warmer. Dinner will be ready in a while." They went upstairs into their own rooms.

-- --

"So what do you think of Quidditch now, Hermione?" said Ginny as she and Hermione reached their room.

"It's ok, I guess."

"What made you change your mind about joining?" asked Ginny. Hermione shrugged. _As if I'm going to tell her that I joined because of her brother._

"I think you joined because of Fred." Ginny said casually. Hermione swallowed nervously _how did she know? Ok, just stay calm. _"What do you mean?" she managed to ask without a hint of nervousness.

Ginny shrugged. "He used his puppy dog eyes." She looked at Hermione. Hermione nodded. "No one can resist them; he calls it his _'power of persuasion'_" Hermione laughed, but it was out of relief. "Yeah… he used his puppy dog eyes." They changed into warmer clothes and put their wet clothes in the laundry chute outside the bathroom, they went back downstairs to the kitchen.

"Hello dears, could you please set the table?" said Mrs. Weasley "dinner is almost ready."

"Sure, Mrs. Weasley." Said Hermione.

"Thank you, Hermione, dear." The two girls took the silverware and the plates and started setting the table.

"Fred! George! Ron! Harry! DINNER!" Mrs. Weasley called up the stairs as she set the food on the table.

-- --

The boys came down to the kitchen all changed and warm (except for Ron, of course). Hermione, Ginny and Mr. Weasley were already seated, while Mrs. Weasley summoned bottles of butterbeer before sitting down. The boys sat down, and the Weasley's, Harry, and Hermione started loading their plates with food.

"Wow, mom, you've outdone yourself." Remarked Fred.

"'eah, om, its eally good." Said George through a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Swallow, George." Said Mrs. Weasley sternly. George swallowed. "Sorry, mom."

"That's alright, George." Said Mrs. Weasley "So, I was thinking we go to Hogsmead on the weekend, so we can do some Christmas shopping." She said to everyone.

"Why the weekend?" asked Ginny.

"Because you're father's work ends on Friday for the holidays, so do Bill's and Charlie's. And so there will be more adults around to look after all of you."

"Bill and Charlie are coming?" asked Ron, speaking for the first time since dinner started.

"Yes." No one bothered to ask about Percy, they could tell that Mrs. Weasley was still upset about him. After several helpings of everything (Mrs. Weasley insisted that Harry and Hermione have sixth helpings of everything, complaining that they were so skinny), everyone was too sleepy to talk anymore.

"Now, off to bed with all of you." Said Mr. Weasley "I'm sure you've all had a very tiring day." They all said their goodnights to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and headed upstairs to their rooms.

-- --

Fred and George reached their bedroom, yawning and stretching, and changed into their pajamas and got into their beds.

"Man, I am exhausted." Said Fred.

"Me, too. Good game today, by the way." Said George, referring to the Quidditch game they had this afternoon.

"Yeah."

"How did you convince Hermione to join?"

"Powers of persuasion, my friend, powers of persuasion." Replied Fred sleepily, his eyelids getting heavy. George laughed.

"G'night Fred."

"G'night George."

xxxxxxx

**Weeee! thanks to everyone that reviewed! Luv y'all!**


	11. After breakfast

The next morning, everyone went down to breakfast to find that Ron had just finished eating. He left the kitchen in a hurry so there was no need for him to talk to anyone.

"Goodness, he never gets up this early." Said Mrs. Weasley after Ron had left the room, "he seems upset about something, do any of you know what's wrong?" she asked the others.

"Absolutely no idea, mum." George shrugged "whatever it is, he's bound to get over it."

Everyone secretly agreed that they wouldn't tell Mrs. Weasley what actually happened.

"I've made pancakes, sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, some blueberry muffins, and there is still a bit of toast that you can have with some butter, tuck in." said Mrs. Weasley as they sat down and started loading their plates. She went to the sink and started washing some dishes.

"Do you think we should talk to Ron?" Hermione whispered to the others as to not be overheard by Mrs. Weasley.

"He might not want to talk to us just yet." Replied Ginny

"He didn't even make eye contact when we came down here." Said Harry, glancing at Mrs. Weasley to make sure she was not listening in.

"We have to discuss tactics on how we should approach him." Said George

"And what we should say to him because personally, I'm willing to put this behind us." Said Fred. This sounded way too mature for Fred, but everyone agreed to talk after they finished breakfast.

"And when you're done with breakfast," Mrs. Weasley said, still washing a glass, "I want you to de-gnome the garden -don't look at me like that Fred Weasley!… oh, Harry, Hermione, you don't have to de-gnome the garden, you two are guests."

"We'd like to help, Mrs. Weasley." Said Hermione. Harry nodded because his mouth was too full of sausages to speak. Mrs. Weasley hesitated at first but reluctantly agreed.

"Alright, but if you two get tired…"

"Don't worry, Mrs. Weasley." Said Hermione. Harry was whispering to the others that this would be a good opportunity to talk about their plans about what they should say to Ron.

"Alright then. I'll go tell Ron to help; I forgot to tell him when he was down here." Mrs. Weasley left the kitchen to go and find Ron, and left the others to finish their breakfast.

"Uh oh." George said quietly so they wouldn't be overheard.

"This might complicate things a bit." Said Fred in an undertone.

"No it won't." Hermione said.

"What?" everyone asked.

"It won't." Hermione said flatly.

"Hermione, how are we supposed to talk about Ron if Ron is there?" asked Ginny.

"We won't have to." This confused everyone even more. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"That we have absolutely no clue on what you're saying?" Said Harry.

"That you're not going to tell us in this century or the next?" suggested George.

"That we don't have to de-gnome the garden?" Fred said hopefully.

Hermione sighed. "Don't you see? We won't have to talk_ about_ Ron, we can just talk _to_ Ron himself." She waited as she watched the others contemplate on this. "Well?" she asked after she let everyone think about it.

Fred spoke up, "I think I speak for the collective when I say, your idea is completely crazy!" Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"What? No it isn't."

"Yes it is, Hermione."

"Why is that?"

"Because if we blow it…" Fred trailed off, and it dawned on Hermione.

"We won't have a second chance." Hermione finished quietly.

"Exactly." There was a pause as everyone reflected on their dilemma.

"Unless…" Hermione said finally, breaking the silence.

"I don't like the sound of that." Said George.

"Unless what, Hermione?" asked Ginny, looking hopeful.

"Unless we try to talk to him one at a time." Hermione answered.

"Ok, I _really_ don't like the sound of that."

"Quiet George, I think she's got an idea." Said Fred.

"Well, if we try to talk to him one by one, we would have more chances won't we? And hopefully, he would consider talking to one of us-"

"Once he's fed up enough." Said Fred triumphantly.

"No, Fred." said Hermione with a disapproving look "once he's realized that we want to talk to him and are willing to put all of this nonsense behind us."

"Who should talk to him first?" asked Ginny.

"I was thinking either Harry or I should approach Ron first." replied Hermione "so we could make it look like we were trying to have a casual conversation with him."

"Ok, it's settled then." said Harry. They all stood up and put their dishes in the sink, put on their coats and went out to the garden. Snow was lightly falling outside and the gnomes of all size and age were out of their holes enjoying it.

"Funny things, gnomes." Harry said thoughtfully.

"You two already know how to de-gnome, right?" asked George. Harry and Hermione nodded. "Ok, guess we should get started. The sooner we finish, the better." A few minutes into the de-gnoming, they were joined by Ron (well, not really. He went to the other side of the garden).

"Ok" said Ginny, glancing back at Ron "Harry, Hermione, one of you should go first."

"I'll do it." Said Hermione.

"Good luck." Said Harry.

-- --

Hermione took a deep breath and walked towards Ron. _It's now or never. Don't be nervous, act casual. _

"Hi Ron!" she said cheerily, but Ron didn't seem to notice her "er… want any help with those gnomes?" Ron didn't answer. _Ok, try another approach._

"So…" she tried to start another 'conversation' "I haven't seen much of you in a while."

"I live here don't I?" Ron said coldly without looking at her. Hermione heaved a sigh and told herself to be patient with Ron.

"Look Ron, can't we just… you know, talk?"

Ron didn't answer. Hermione couldn't take his attitude so she decided to let Harry have a go at him. "All of us just wanted to talk, Ron." She said quietly before heading towards the others.

-- --

"How do you think its going?" asked Ginny as she watched Hermione's futile attempts to talk to Ron.

"Not so good." said Fred as he shook his head.

"I don't think he even hears her." George commented "I mean, he's not even making eye contact with her." Just then, they saw Hermione turning her back to Ron and heading towards them.

"No luck huh?" said Harry once Hermione joined them.

"No" she said sadly, "he wouldn't even make eye contact. Maybe you should have a go at him, Harry."

"Ok, I'll try my best." He said and walked towards Ron.

-- --

He reached Ron and took a deep breath. "Ron?"

"Hermione said you all wanted to talk." said Ron, turning around to face Harry.

"Er… yeah Ron, we did." This might be easier than expected.

"So why are you trying to talk to me one by one and not as a group?"

"We just thought that if we came to you as a group and you blew us off, that would be it. But if we came to you one by one, we would have more chances to talk to you, and you could hear more from us on what we have to say."

"That makes sense."

-- --

"How do think Harry's doing?" Hermione asked nervously.

"I think its going well." remarked Ginny.

"I think you softened Ron up, Hermione." said George.

"They're actually having a conversation." said Fred.

-- --

"And it's not like Hermione and I sided with Ginny or anything. So are you willing to put all of this stuff behind?" asked Harry looking anxious. "I mean, you weren't upset in the slightest when we laughed at you when you had that bow on your head."

"I'm willing if everyone else is." said Ron.

"Of course we are, that's why we wanted to talk to you in the first place."

"Ok, then."

"Good to have you back, mate."

-- --

"Look! I think Harry's done it." Fred exclaimed.

"Indeed he has!" said George. Harry and Ron were approaching them both looking relatively satisfied. Ron went up to Fred and held out his hand.

"Truce?"

Fred smiled and took Ron's hand. "Truce."

"Ron…" said a quiet voice behind Ron. He turned around and saw Ginny, she was shuffling her feet. "I'm sorry that I yelled at you."

"Its ok, Gin. I'm sorry for being such a prat, everyone."

"It's ok, Ron." Said Hermione, and she gave him a hug.

"HAVEN'T YOU FINISHED DE-GNOMING THE GARDEN YET!" Mrs. Weasley was yelling from the kitchen window. This snapped everyone back to the reason why they were all outside in the first place.

"Oops!" said George.

"Sorry mum!" Ginny called back to her mother.

"We'd better finish up, it's getting cold." said Fred. Everyone agreed and returned to de-gnoming the garden, but this time, they were in higher spirits than they were a while ago, because now, Ron was talking to them, and they remembered that Bill and Charlie would be arriving the next day.

xxxxxxxxx

**So sorry for taking forever to update...**

**Mariomarie:** hahaha! I hoped someone would notice that! I love Potter Puppet Pals! hehe...

**x-Ice-Queen-x:** I wouldnt need persuasion either! hehe.

**Redberry Greenleaf:** I love Potter Puppet Pals!

**Everyone else:** thanks for the reviews!


	12. Confessions and planning

"BILL! CHARLIE!" Ginny shrieked and ran towards her eldest brothers.

"Whoa! Ginny, calm down." Bill laughed as he gave her a hug.

"Yeah Ginny, people in _France_ heard you." Charlie chuckled.

"I'm just so happy you guys are here."

"We've noticed." Ginny smiled and went into the kitchen.

"Oh Bill, Charlie!" Mrs. Weasley appeared and kissed them both on the cheek. "It's so nice to have the two of you back here! We haven't seen you all year!"

"We're fine mum." Said Bill.

"It's good to be back here." Said Charlie looking around the place he has called home all his life.

"It's good to have you back, dear. Everyone is in the kitchen, come now, both of you and have some breakfast and you two could have a lie-down afterwards, you two will be sharing a room with Fred and George." She magicked their trunks to the twins' room and led them through the kitchen door, where they were greeted by the rest of the Weasleys (minus Percy, obviously), Harry, and Hermione.

"Ahh… Bill, Charlie." Mr. Weasley greeted his eldest sons.

"Hi, dad." They both said, they greeted the rest of the family, Harry and Hermione.

"Ok, let's eat." Said Mrs. Weasley, the room was soon filled with the sound of silverware on plates, conversation and laughter.

"Want to join us in a game of Quidditch after breakfast?" George asked his two brothers. They immediately agreed. At first, Mrs. Weasley disapproved of this and said that they should rest, but Bill and Charlie convinced her that they would rest after they played. They finished breakfast, Harry, Bill and Charlie went upstairs to get their brooms and quickly came back down. Hermione decided that she would only watch their game, so they all put on their coasts and headed towards the clearing.

"Wait a minute, I've just noticed that were unequal again." Said Fred as they reached the clearing.

"No were not, there's eight of us." Objected Ron.

"Yeah, we are unequal. There's Bill, Charlie, me, George, Ron, Ginny, and Harry since Hermione is just watching this time." Said Fred as he did a head count.

"I guess one will sit out first, but after a few minutes they can join while another sits out." Harry suggested to the others.

"That sounds logical." Said George. Ginny volunteered to sit out first and joined Hermione as the others divided into teams (Harry, Fred and Charlie against Ron, Bill and George). Ginny and Hermione volunteered to keep score, occasionally cheering.

"Go Bill!"

"Block it!"

"No, don't block it!"

"Good job Fred!" Hermione cheered as Fred made a spectacular save. Fred blushed slightly but no one took any notice as they were determined to play and win. The game went on for a few more minutes, then they called for a time out to let Ginny join, Fred sat out this time. Then the game started where it left off.

"What's the score, I've lost count." Fred asked Hermione as he joined her.

"It's 80-50 to your team." Commented Hermione. "That was a nice save a while ago. It looked difficult."

"It was, it's not easy to block Bill's shots."

"I can tell." She replied as she saw Bill get the quaffle past Ginny. "So the score is now 80-60." Fred smiled. "What are you smiling about?"

"It's just, you're a bit more enthusiastic about Quidditch now, that's all." The game went on a few more minutes later, when Mrs. Weasley came up to them and told them to stop with their game to let Bill and Charlie rest. Everyone landed looking a bit disgruntled that the game couldn't go on.

"What's the final score?" Ron asked.

"160-150 to our team when mom told us to stop." Replied Fred "it was really close." They went back into the house, changed out of their clothes into warmer ones and they all ate lunch as they sat in front of the fire. Bill gave a sigh of content and struck up a conversation, "So, who's dating who?" everyone except Charlie chocked on their sandwiches and looked at him, Bill raised his eyebrows. "Considering how you all reacted I'm guessing I've hit home. So far, I only know who George is dating." George sputtered.

"What? Who told you?"

"Mom told us."

"Us?"

"Charlie and I."

"It's true, George." Charlie said as George gave him an is-it-true? Look.

"So anyway" said Bill "back to my question, who is dating who?"

"Ginny's dating Harry." George blurted out.

"George!" yelled Harry, blushing furiously as he looked at Bill to see what he though about this.

Bill shrugged. "It was bound to happen."

"Bill!" Ginny yelled.

"So who's Ron dating?" Charlie asked. Ron's ears turned pink but didn't answer. Fred and George sniggered, they decided to poke some fun at Ron.

"A very delightful girl." Said George, everyone looked at him and Fred.

"Oh yes, very delightful." Fred teased.

"Can't seem to remember her name though. It's something like Violet Grey."

"No, isn't it Lilac White?"

"It's Lavender Brown." Ron said irritably, his ears turned bright red as he realized that Fred and George just tricked him into saying her name. Fred and George ran as Ron jumped up and started chasing them around the room shouting threats at them about what he would do when he catches them ("You mean_ if _you catch us." Fred teased), everyone laughed as each threat sounded more absurd as the last.

"So that's Ginny and Harry, Ron and Lavender, George and Alicia" said Bill over the commotion, ticking his fingers as he said their names, "that must mean Fred and Hermione are together." A lot of things happened at once after he said this, Hermione stopped laughing, Fred suddenly stopped running causing George to run into him knocking both of them to the floor causing Ron to trip over them and falling on top of George who was on top of Fred, Harry and Ginny stared wide-eyed at Bill.

"What!" Hermione said suddenly.

"What made you think that?" Fred said as he pushed both George and Ron off of him and stood up.

"It's possible, isn't it?" Bill shrugged. Hermione and Fred look at each other; Hermione blushed slightly and looked away.

"Oh yes its possible" said Hermione, which caused everyone to stare "just highly unlikely." She finished indifferently. At this, she got up and asked Ginny to accompany her upstairs, although Ginny was a bit confused, she agreed.

-- --

"Hermione, what's going on?" Ginny asked as they reached their room and sat down on Hermione's bed.

"I have to tell you something."

"Does it have anything to do what Bill said? Because I'm sure he was just kidding about all that."

"It sort of has something to do with that. And I know I can trust you, so I'll tell you everything." Hermione took a deep breath and began to tell Ginny everything and explained how she felt about them. That time Fred had paid for her meal when they were in Hogsmead; when he sat out of the game of Exploding Snap; the time he commented on her singing_ and_ on a certain line of the song; the time when he suggested that they share a broom when they played Quidditch and how he promised to keep her safe. Ginny listened to everything Hermione said without interrupting her, but she squealed when Hermione finished explaining the details of the dream she had had about Fred.

"Hermione, do you like him?"

"That's just it Ginny, I do. But I have absolutely no idea if he likes me back; I've liked him ever since my first year at Hogwarts but I never showed or said that I did because I thought it would ware off sooner or later, but it didn't. Ginny, what am I supposed to do?" Ginny thought long and hard about how she could help her friend.

"If everything you told me about what Fred did for you was true, then I'm sure he likes you and recognizes you more then just one of my and Ron's best friends. I don't know if he likes you the way you like him, but just let things happen on their own accord. It _is_ possible he may like you. You shouldn't fight your feelings about him." This seemed to cheer Hermione up a bit.

"Thanks, Ginny."

"What are friends for, right?"

"Right. Oh, and Ginny, please don't mention any of this to anyone."

"I won't, I promise."

-- --

"Did I say something wrong?" said a confused Bill as Hermione and Ginny left the room; nobody answered him "so I guess you two are not together?" Fred shook his head and sat down.

"Sometimes I wish we were." Fred said quietly, more to himself, but everyone heard him.

"Together?"

Fred nodded to answer. "George?"

"Yeah, Fred?" said George as he sat down beside Fred.

"Do you remember that time when I zoned out so long, when you wanted to ask me why and I told you it wasn't the right time?"

"Is now the right time?"

"Yes. And to answer your original question, I was thinking about Hermione."

"Why didn't you tell me?" George asked, but he wasn't angry or hurt.

"I thought you would laugh or something."

"Fred, maybe you should start from the beginning, for our sake." Charlie suggested. Harry, Ron and Bill nodded in agreement.

"Ok." He took a deep breath and talked about the afternoon he had spent with Hermione in Hogsmead; the dream he had about her ("that's the real reason why I yelled that one morning" he added to George); the time he sat out during Exploding Snap when she didn't want to join; how he secretly hoped that she would come to the Burrow for the holidays; the time he interrupted her singing and was thinking about a certain line of the song ("as if she was singing about me."); the time when they played Quidditch and he wanted to share his broom with her and how she had trusted him right away; and all the times he mentally kicked himself in the head every time he thought about her. When he was done confessing all of this, he was relieved that no one had laughed at him.

"How long have you liked her?" Harry asked.

"Ever since my third year. But I never told anyone, not even George."

"We've noticed." Ron said sarcastically.

"What should I do?"

"You should tell her." Bill and Charlie said at the same time.

"What if she doesn't like me the way I like her?"

"You won't know until you tell her." Replied George "The rest of us have been down this road before, bro. This is exactly how we felt, but we plucked up the courage to tell the ones we liked and it all turned out good."

"We're willing to help." Bill said. This raised Fred's spirits.

"You are?"

"Only if you really want her."

"Of course I do. But do you think I have a chance with her?"

"Of course you have a chance with her. _She_ even said it was possible." Said Charlie.

"But she said it was highly unlikely." Fred replied.

"At least she didn't say it was _completely_ unlikely." Harry pointed out.

"You're right Harry!" Fred exclaimed. "But, how can you guys help me?"

"Have you forgotten where we're going tomorrow?" said Bill.

"Hogsmead… Of course!"

"It would be the perfect place to tell her how you feel." Ron said.

"We should plan this out carefully." Charlie said "but not here and definitely not now, we'll plan everything tonight, we'll be sharing a room anyway." A few minutes later, Mr. Weasley came into the room and said that dinner was ready.

"Could one of you call the girls?"

"I'll do it." Said Fred right away, everyone smiled at him as he bounded up the stairs.

-- --

There was a knock on the door. Fred poked his head into the room and smiled. "Not interrupting anything am I?"

"No, Fred." Replied Ginny.

"Why?" said Hermione.

"Its dinner time." Replied Fred. All three of them went down the stairs into the kitchen. Ginny sat down beside Harry, so Fred and Hermione had to sit beside each other (because there were only two seats left). They all started loading their plates with food and began to eat.

"Don't forget that we're going to Hogsmead tomorrow morning, so I want all of you to go to bed early." Said Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh, mom, I invited Alicia to come, and Ron's invited Lavender, is that ok?" George said. "We're meeting them at Hogsmead."

"Yes, dear, it's ok."

"How long are we going to be there?" Bill asked. Mrs. Weasley said that they were going to be there all morning. After they finished eating, they all made their way upstairs to get ready for bed.

-- --

"Ok, planning time." Said Fred as he, George, Bill and Charlie reached their room and lay down on their beds. Bill had put a Silencing Charm around the door so they couldn't be overheard.

"A plan to make your dream come true, literally." Said Charlie.

"Ok" Bill began "since were going to be there all morning, and we're probably going to have lunch there as well, I think we should do all our shopping first. When we're all done shopping, we all meet up at the Three Broomsticks, including Ginny and Hermione."

"And then, you convince Hermione to take a walk with you. That should be easy enough, considering Alicia and Lavender will be coming." Said George "We'd be all paired up. And after that, it would all be up to you."

"But what about mom and dad?"

"We'll distract them enough, don't worry about that." Charlie replied confidently. "We'll tell Harry and Ron the plan tomorrow morning."

"Thanks guys, you're the best." Said Fred.

"You'll repay us somehow." joked George.

xxxxxxxx

**limegirl62: **Sorry, but be patient. Its going to happen.

**rhiannon-shaxington:** Thanks. Don't worry, it will happen in the next chapter.

**Sakura-jr17:** I had to let them make up first, hope you understand. Sorry if you didn't like my last chapter.

**Everyone else:** Thanks! you guys are the best, hope you enjoyed this chapter. And I'm sorry if some of you think that I'm taking forever to get Fred and Hermione together, but trust me, I know what I'm doing.


	13. Dream come true

The four boys were awoken by Mrs. Weasley rapping on the door. "Bill! Charlie! Fred! George! Get up!" they heard her walk away to wake up the girls.

"Today's the day." Fred said cheerfully as he sat up and stretched.

"The day your dream comes true." said George.

They quickly got dressed and headed downstairs to the kitchen; Harry and Ron were already there, so they quickly filled them in on the plan. They also agreed that they would tell Ginny about the plan so they can get her away from Hermione.

"Ok, it's settled then." George said as he heard the girls and Mrs. Weasley come down the stairs. They all sat down and had a quick breakfast and were all now ready to go to Hogsmead. They all stood by the fire place and used floo powder to get there.

"I don't want any of you wandering off." Mrs. Weasley said sternly when they reached Hogsmead "You should either be with me, your father, Bill or Charlie at all times, am I understood?" she focused the last three words on the twins.

"Don't worry, mum. You can trust us." Said Bill "Let's go, you lot." They split into two groups (Bill, Fred, George and Ginny; Charlie, Harry, Ron and Hermione) and went into different stores and did all of their shopping. About two hours and several stores later, they all met up at the Three Broomsticks laden with all their shopping. They saw Lavender and Alicia there and Ron and George introduced them to Bill and Charlie (Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were still out shopping somewhere). They all sat down (which was difficult considering there was so many of them) and ordered a round of butterbeers. Fred noticed that Hermione was unusually quiet and he decided that now would be the right time to take her for a 'walk'.

He leaned over and whispered to Hermione "Feeling left out again?" Hermione smiled, they were in the same situation as last time.

"Yeah." She whispered.

"How about we go for a walk?"

"Sure." She and Fred stood up, everyone looked at them.

"Going for a walk." Said Fred, winking at them, but Hermione didn't see.

"Ok, then." Said Bill, winking back.

"We'll watch over your stuff." Said Ginny, she was already filled in on the plan when they were shopping.

"Take your time." George said playfully. Fred and Hermione left the Three Broomsticks and walked up the street.

"It's just like last time huh?" said Fred, in hopes of striking up a conversation.

"Only if you'll be paying for my meal." Hermione said happily.

"I'm not making any promises." They both started laughing.As they walked further down the street, Fred reached out his hand at took hold of hers. "I've been waiting to hold your hand in mine for so long" he whispered softly into her ear. "I just was never brave enough to do it." (A/N any of this sounding familiar? Lol.)

Hermione blushed. "I never thought you felt this way. But I'm glad you do, because I feel the same way about you."

Fred smiled at her. He led her to a deserted corner of the street and faced her. "Hermione, I've liked you for the longest time."

"Me too, Fred" replied Hermione "But I never thought you would ever like me, considering I'm not one of prettiest girls in school."

"That's because you're not pretty… you're beautiful" said Fred. "Everything about you is perfect." He leaned forward and brought his lips to hers in a soft and loving kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

-- --

Fred's POV

_Oh my God! I'm kissing her, I'm finally kissing her! And best of all, she's kissing me back! This is so perfect!_

-- --

Hermione's POV

_He does like me! Oh my God, this is the best day of my entire life! I'm never going to forget this perfect moment! _

-- --

They pulled away slowly and looked into each others eyes. "Wow" was all Hermione could say. Fred chuckled.

"Is that all you can say?"

"No, but I'm speechless. I never thought you liked me and I've liked you for the longest time and I thought that I was going to explode because of all the times I saw you and couldn't tell anyone how I felt and-" Fred put his hand on her mouth softly to stop her from talking. "I thought you were speechless." He grinned at her and removed his hand.

"Fred?"

"Hmm?"

"I don't know how to tell you this…"

"Just tell me, Hermione."

"I had a dream about this." Hermione blushed.

"You did?" Hermione nodded. "So did I. Guess this means it was a dream come true, literally." They laughed.

"Come on," he kissed her on the cheek "we should get back before people start looking for us." They walked together hand in hand back to the Three Broomsticks. Upon entering, they were both greeted by cheers and smiles by the others. Hermione blushed and Fred had a huge smile plastered on his face as they approached the others.

"Oh Hermione!" Ginny gave her a hug "I told you things would happen if you let them."

"Yeah, you were right." Hermione replied, she couldn't help but smile. All the guys were patting Fred on the back.

"So what was it like?"

Fred and Hermione looked at each other and smiled. "Completely perfect."

xxxxxxx

**I know, this chapter was super short, but it happened! Do you guys think I should keep going? 'Cause I still have a few more ideas. Or should I just leave it here? Please tell me...**

**Close2MiiHeart:** It's good to know that someone is crazy about my story (but not too crazy, right? Joke!) lol. Thanks for the review, I appreciate it a lot!

**amrawo: **I hope you liked it.

**rhiannon-shaxington: **I agree, no one can bring out the best in the twins better than Hermione! lol. Oppisites attract, am I right? lol.

**Everyone else:** Thanks guys soooo much! I hope you liked this chapter, luv you, luv you, luv you! hehehe... I tried to make the kiss as sweet as possible, but I'm not very good at that and didn't do a really good job on it. hehehe...


	14. Authors note

Hi… sorry everyone, but I've decided to end my story with the previous chapter. I've decided to use my extra ideas to write a sequel or a different story altogether. I'm so sorry to dissapoint everyone who told me to keep going...


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